I have heard a few people ask why electric cars are not covered in solar panels. I expect this is partly down to cost and it may also be that the energy the panels generate does not justify the extra weight. Well someone has decided to try out this concept. Dutch startup Lightyear have some experience in this as they have won the Solar Challenge across Australia. Building a usable road car is a different challenge, but they have tried to make it as efficient as possible. They recently unveiled a prototype after just a few months of development and the Fully Charged show had a look.
You may notice that it does not get faster than people can keep up with on foot or bicycle, but it is early days. It offers similar range to a Tesla with a smaller battery, which keeps the weight down. Apparently you can get 12km of extra range per hour of solar charging, which is not massive, but if it is parked up for the day you can go a bit further without finding a charger.
Screenshot from their website.
The price is set at €149,000 and you can reserve one for expected delivery in 2021. I hope they can achieve that. We need innovation in motoring to speed up the move away from burning oil.
I did read a while back about an electric camper van that is covered in panels. It may only have a 100km range, but then it is a big, heavy thing with not very good aerodynamics.
There was also a story yesterday of a classic VW camper that has been converted to electric. It also has very limited range, but sounds like fun.
The 'petrol heads' may not want to accept it, but mass motoring has to move on from the internal combustion engine unless we can find alternative fuels that are less polluting and sustainable. Cities are choking and demand for transport will make it worse. What we really need are incentives to move away from car ownership. Some will say this is a loss of freedom, but we already give up so much to have our cars in air quality, usable land and the lives lost on the roads. A friend had a narrow escape from serious injury just last week when her car was written off. It makes you think.
Drive safely, and economically.
The geeky guitarist and facilitator of the 10K Minnows Project.
